Deep dive in the magnificent world of VEM and VTM

Last week, I joined a 2 day master class on vehicle energy management (VEM) and vehicle thermal management (VTM) master class in Chassieu, Lyon, in France. Together with 50 customers and industry experts from across the globe, we plunged into the ins and outs/depths of energy efficiency of conventional and electrical vehicles. Well … ‘we’, I’d better say ‘they’. I don’t have any engineering background, and got completely lost in the technical details. Nonetheless, this topic also speaks to me and while they clearly enjoyed the deep dive, I enjoyed the snorkeling – floating on the surface and looking down to the colorful reef, fish and turtles. Occasionally, I observed the deep sea divers successfully established a solution when they encountered a shark. Going from the underwater world back to vehicle energy and thermal management, we all want our cars to be more than energy efficient. It also needs to be fun-to-drive, comfortable and quiet. Here, the technical experts from Simcenter Engineering come to play.

Simcenter Engineering experts know better than anyone else how to safeguard the balance between technological innovations and functional engineering performances. Using the entire Simcenter portfolio, they flawlessly create a digital twin, which integrates all the relevant subsystems playing a primary role in determining the performance of a vehicle. Using a full vehicle measurement approach in combination with a scalable modeling methodology, they correctly trace the vehicle energy efficiency from early concept phase to late refinement phases and balance conflicting attributes.

I found it particularly inspirational to see everybody’s interest and energy. About the topic, connecting with their peers, when demonstrated how to solve technical issues, or when visiting the energy management test bench and its advanced instrumentation. Unfortunately, a person’s energy level is not something that is physically quantifiable. Just imagine if we would be able to demonstrate the energy flowing from the presenters to the audience and back. I’m sure it would have given an impressive energy chart. In Simcenter Amesim it would still be quite schematic, but in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ it would look fantastic with particles flowing from one person to another, who on their turn engage other persons.

This short video doesn’t show energy flows or charts, but gives a good impression of what such a master class is about:

The feedback of our customers is clear. The hands-on approach and technical session is perceived to be very valuable and helps to stay tuned on the latest technologies while focusing on the application. Additionally, it gives the opportunity to network and mingle with other industry experts.

You want to be inspired too? Join our masterclass in 2020! You can take a look at the agenda and register here: https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/global/en/event/hybrid-electric-vehicle-energy-management-international-masterclass/68696